He was among the first of the Americans to plant a vineyard for the making of wine.[8]

His original settlement was known as "Carpenter's Farm" from 1837 until it was destroyed by a flood in 1867.[9] He was active in revolutionary activities, sided with the Americans in the Mexican War,[4] tried gold mining, and in general prospered in his new home. A popular travel guide notes: "Rancho Santa Gertrudes…was sold to Lemuel Carpenter, a Kentuckian, who married the beautiful María de los Angeles Domínguez. ... The Carpenters [were] happy and prosperous under Mexican rule".[7][10]

Rancho Santa Gertrudes was owned by Lemuel Carpenter until 1859.[10] In 1859 the rancho was sold at sheriff's auction to John G. Downey and James P. McFarland. "Samuel", actually "Lemuel" but misspelled by the recorder, Carpenter was recorded as the legal possessor as late as 1862.[11]

Family

In the 1850 census,[13] Lemuel Carpenter is listed as age 42, with a real estate value of $8,000 dollars, a farmer. His wife, Maria, is listed as age 22 — she was his second wife. His children, all born in California, are listed as:

Susana Carpenter, age 11.

José Antonio Carpenter, age 9. (born 20 Nov 1837 in California; his descendants still live in Los Angeles[14])

Refugio Carpenter, age 6.

Francisco Carpenter, age 3.

Misfortune and Death

Carpenter's prosperity took a precipitous downturn when a $5,000 loan from John G. Downey taken out in 1852 ballooned into a $104,000 debt by 1859.[3][15] Unable to repay the debt, he eventually killed himself.[16]

The diary of Lemuel Carpenter's daughter Mary Refugio Carpenter includes this entry written on January 2, 1861: "I have been thinking so much of my father tonight. It made me weep."[17]

^Charles Russell Quinn: History of Downey, The Life Story of a Pioneer Community, and of the Man who Founded it – California Governor John Gately Downey – From Covered Wagon to the Space Shuttle, Elena Quinn, Downey, Calif., 1973, pp. 12, 20-22, 32, 104-105, et al.

^John Bidwell: "First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900," Library of Congress Historical Collections, "American Memory": John Bidwell (Pioneer of '41): Life in California Before the Gold Discovery, from the collection "California As I Saw It."

^Lanier Bartlett, ed.: On The Old West Coast; Being Further Reminiscences of A Ranger, Major Horace Bell, William Morrow & Co., New York, printed in the USA by Quinn & Boden Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., 1930; from the collection "California as I Saw It": First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849–1900, Library of Congress Historical Collections (American Memory).

^John Adams: "Loss of father cast shadow over her diary" in The Downey [Calif.] Eagle issue of December 5, 1997, on file with the Downey Historical Society, Downey, Calif.